apples and trees
by tomhollandprotectionsquad
Summary: happy birthday eren! - the saying goes the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but does that rule still apply to fifteen-year old Michelle Heere?


**_trigger warning: manipulation, major character death (off-screen/ implied/ referenced), verbal abuse_**

Jeremy takes a deep breath as he approaches the floor-length mirror in the dressing room, relentlessly adjusting the black tie that was held tightly between his fingers. He glances up for a moment, catching a glimpse of himself as he struggles to fix it accurately. His hair is unkempt, and his suit jacket is still undone, hanging off of his arm, but it's good progress for the time.

Finally, his tie is tied, and he shifts to put his arms through the sleeves of the jacket, quickly buttoning it as the door behind him opens.

_Breathe in, breathe out._

Everything was precise, and the wedding would go perfectly. There was nothing to worry about. Nothing would go wrong. It would all be okay.

"Jeremy?" The gentle voice of his best friend makes its way to his ears, calming his nerves slightly and cutting off his current train of thought. "Are you okay?" He looks up at Michael through the mirror and lets out a nervous laugh.

"I- I can't believe this is happening," he says, voice faraway. There was also a genuine sort of wonder in his tone, a piece of child-like innocence that still sat untainted, even with everything that had happened to him.

That was something that Michael was jealous of, but he was also glad it was there. Jeremy deserved to be happy, and if this was what made him happy, then Michael could stand by for that. He smiles at Jeremy through the mirror, though it could be classified as strained if you looked too close.

"Don't keep her waiting then, Jeremy."

* * *

"Do you, Jeremiah Heere, take Christine Canigula, to be your lawfully wedded wife, for as long as you both shall live?"

There are a few tears in his eyes as he turns to his soon-to-be wife. "I do."

"And do you, Christine Canigula, take Jeremiah Heere, to be your lawfully wedded husband for as long as you both shall live?"

Christine's eyes are watery as well as she looks at him. "I do."

"I now pronounce you, husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

* * *

"Dad!" a young voice yells, the sound of footsteps getting closer as the young child gets closer to her destination, and, in turn, the person she's calling for. Jeremy looks up, surprised that she's home early, and turns around just in time to catch his rambunctious daughter.

"Hey!" he drags out the _e_, surprised at the sudden movement.

Then, he moves to set her in his lap, a stern look now set on his face. "Michelle, what have I told you about running?" Michelle looks away, guilt clear.

"I shouldn't run because I could get hurt." Jeremy nods, satisfied.

"That's right." He leaves a kiss on her forehead and sets her back down just in time to see Christine come through the door. She smiles softly at the two of them.

"Did you tell him?" Christine asks, and Jeremy gives his wife a look of confusion. At least, he was confused before a piece of paper was put in his face. He takes it out of her smaller hand and reads the top: Spelling Test. And over on the side, in red pen, was her score; 100%.

Jeremy smiles at his child. "That's great!" Michelle beams at the praise, momentarily forgetting about what had transpired mere moments ago.

Then, Michelle runs through the door back to the kitchen. Jeremy and Christine make eye contact, and Christine shakes her head fondly.

* * *

Michelle groans as she tugs on a bag, not that the bag was heavy, no, but because why did they have to leave? The only good part of this, she supposed, was getting to stay with her uncle, Michael.

"Where are you even going?" She asks her dad, a small pout on her face. If anything could get her her way, then it would be that. Her father takes her bag and sets it in the trunk before closing it.

"We're going on a business trip," he says. "Are you missing anything?" She thinks for a second before realizing that she had forgotten something. She runs past her mom and into the house.

* * *

Christine chuckles as her daughter runs past, leaving her amused husband next to the car. He speaks up as she approaches.

"She acts a lot like you, you know," Jeremy mentions. Christine sends him a knowing smile in response.

"She does, doesn't she?"

* * *

Michelle waves as she watches her parents get in their car. "Bye!" She continues waving until they disappear around the corner at the end of the road. Michael stands behind her, doing the same.

When they're gone, Michael turns away from the window."Now, what do you want to do?" Michelle jumps up and runs over to her bag that still sat next to the couch. She pulls out the case of a DVD.

Michael laughs to himself once he sees the name. She is definitely their kid, he thinks to himself as she slides the disk into the player.

He walks into the kitchen to start lunch as the beginning of _The Sound of Music_ plays.

* * *

_"Watch out!"_

* * *

"-and she gets to stay!" Michelle finishes, retelling the movie the two of them had just watched to Michael.

"It sounds like you really like it," Michael says, chuckling. Michelle beams before the two of them are interrupted by Michael's phone ringing. He fishes it out of his pocket, frowning at the unknown number.

He almost doesn't answer it, but there was something in his gut that was telling that he had to pick up, that something was wrong.

He presses the green button and raises the phone to his ear.

* * *

_"I'm sorry for your loss."_

* * *

A surprised expression crosses his face, then is immediately overtaken by one of grief.

The phone drops from his hand.

* * *

_"They seemed like good people."_

* * *

He can feel Michelle's curious stare on the back of his head. His mind slams back into first gear as he realizes that he'll have to tell her.

* * *

_"What happened?"_

_"It was an accident."_

* * *

He picks the phone back up and slides it back into his pocket.

His feet feel heavy as he walks.

* * *

_"-Flipped-"_

* * *

The couch dips under his weight.

"Michelle?"

He wished he didn't have to do this.

* * *

_"-on impact-"_

* * *

"You're going to stay here for a bit longer."

* * *

_"-no hope-"_

* * *

"Why?"

His heart breaks for her and for himself.

* * *

_"-so much-"_

* * *

"Something happened."

* * *

"It was really that bad, huh?" Michelle says, looking at her best friend in sympathy. Ellie nods, letting out a sigh.

"To be fair, most remakes don't really hold up to the originals. At least, the ones I've seen."

There's a comfortable silence between the two until they approach the gate of the school. "Hey, Ellie?" Michelle speaks up, suddenly nervous.

Ellie looks up. "Yeah?"

Michelle takes a deep breath before speaking again. "I think I'm going to do it." Ellie's face breaks into a smile.

"Yes!" A few people look over as she screams. Ellie turns bright red from the attention. "Sorry." Michelle looks uneasy but gives her friend a small smile.

"Let's get to class."

* * *

"So, I heard you were looking to get Jerson," a mysterious figure says, appearing from behind the corner of the school, the same way that Michelle went to get home every day.

The first thing Michelle noticed was that he was tall, obviously one of the upperclassmen. His black hair was cut about two inches long, and his brown eyes sparkled with mischief.

"Oh! Uh-" Mysterious guy- whatever his name was- interrupts her.

"You know," mysterious guy says, an edge to his voice that Michelle couldn't identify. "There is an easier way to get what you want." Her eyebrows furrow in confusion, but she is curious to know about this mystery item. "Maybe even something more?"

"Really? How?" Michelle schools her voice to try not to sound too excited, but she doubts it worked. The boy's lips raise in a smirk, and he seems amused.

"All you need..." He trails off for emphasis, looking into her eyes for a split second. Unknowingly, Michelle leans forward.

"...is a S.Q.U.I.P."

* * *

"A squip?" Ellie asks, sounding suspicious.

"Yeah." Michelle rolls, so she is half hanging off the bed. Her eyes find the ceiling, and she speaks up again. "All I need is $400." Ellie raises an eyebrow.

"Sounds like a scam to me." Michelle continues staring at the ceiling.

"Maybe."

* * *

**"Target male inaccessible."**

"What?" Michelle's hands move to her head in a futile motion to lessen the pain.

**"Calibration in progress. Please excuse some moderate discomfort."**

"How is-" Michelle is cut off by an even worse shock, one that she could almost imagine being the same as being tased. She falls, her back hitting the wall behind her. That's when she has the critical thought of "I'm glad I didn't take this at the mall."

**"Calibration complete. Access procedure initiated."**

"Wait-!"

**"Discomfort level may escalate."**

She slides down the wall, hands tightening as if it could somehow stop the pain. She ends up curled in on herself as she waits for it to pass.

The squip continues.

**"Accessing: neural memory. Accessing: muscle memory. Access procedure now complete. Michelle Heere- welcome-"**

She lifts her head up just in time to see the pixelated image of a person appear.

**"-to your Super Quantum Unit Intel Proccessor."**

The person, who Michelle now recognizes as Julie Andrews, holds out a hand.

**"Your squip."**

* * *

Julie frowns as she walks around Michelle, scrutinizing her and seemingly picking out all of her flaws. Though, there was a hint of something else in her eyes.

**"Maybe if you got rid of that silly cardigan,"** she begins, but Michelle glares at her.

"I'm not getting rid of it." She looks down at the blue cardigan tied around her waist. "It was my dad's."

Julie has an unimpressed look on her face. Fortunately for Michelle, she decides to let it go. **"Fine, throw it in the closet, at least."**

* * *

**"Everything about you is just**** terrible."**

**"Everything about you makes me want to die."**

* * *

"What are we doing here, exactly?" Michelle asks, throwing a glance towards her squip. Already, the music coming from inside the house was giving her a headache, but Michelle couldn't find the courage to complain about it. She'd rather have that pain than the pain of the electric shocks Julie was ecstatic to give when she did something wrong.

Julie gazed over at her, an expression of disdain on her face. Nevertheless, she does explain. **"To boost your status."** Michelle scrunches her nose. Julie frowns.

**"Just listen to me, and you'll be fine."**

The look Michelle receives next is one that she could easily classify as a 'motherly' look. Michelle decides not to bring it up.

* * *

**"You will be more chill."**

* * *

"Michelle?" a feminine voice calls. Julie is nowhere to be seen.

Michelle draws her hoodie strings tighter, hiding her face. She stops then, but she doesn't look back. The footsteps get closer, and the urge to run gets stronger, the longer she stands still.

A hand lands on her shoulder. She reacts by throwing it off, not unkindly, but out of surprise.

The girl turns her around, and she's shocked to find that it's Ellie. Michelle doesn't try to meet her eyes. She'd already hurt her friend enough. Ellie's eyes soften.

"Michelle." Finally, Michelle looks up, brown eyes meet grey, and the pressure of tears is building up.

Then Ellie is hugging her, and her tears fall.

* * *

**"Aren't you thankful for what I've done for you?"**

* * *

"I can't get rid of it." Michelle looks away from her best friend, tears building. Ellie stares at her, both concerned and angry.

"Why not?" she says suddenly. "It's only been hurting you, Michelle, and it's been hurting everyone around you!" Michelle flinches away from her voice and continues staring at the ground. "Does your uncle even know where you've been for the past few days?" Her hands form fists as Ellie continues. "What is all of it worth, anyway? A guy? That doesn't even know you?" Michelle stays quiet.

Ellie huffs and turns, facing away from Michelle. "Come find me after you get rid of it."

* * *

**"Why aren't you thankful? I did it to make you happy."**

* * *

"I want the squip gone."

* * *

"The what?"

* * *

Julie smirks.

* * *

A powerful shock travels under her skin.

* * *

A gasp.

* * *

"...please."

* * *

She drops.

* * *

Steady hands catch her.

* * *

She fades in and out as the electricity runs through her.

* * *

**"Why don't you appreciate me? I've done everything thinking of you."**

* * *

There's liquid in her mouth, and she fades from consciousness.

-

-

-

**"You are definitely Jeremiah's child,"** Julie whispers, but there's a strange glitch in her voice midway through, changing to the more masculine voice of Keanu Reeves.

**"His successor indeed."**

Then there's nothing at all.

* * *

**honestly this was really fun to do! the request was a bit too long to be on here (not to mention full of spoilers and a few details i didn't include), though.****i'd also like to explore this storyline a bit more, with your permission (the main characters **are** yours).****anyways, i wish you a great birthday!**

**(one more thing, if you want to request please check my profile to see if requests are open! guidelines for requests should be up soon as well!)**


End file.
